These include Jean Renoir’s This Land Is Mine, Raoul Walsh’s Northern Pursuit, Robert Bresson’s Les anges du péché, and Howard Hughes’ The Outlaw. Other contenders for 1943: As with other years, I still have some things to see. But let’s make sure we remember (as Hitch always did), that we should also entertain them. What moviemakers can learn: As directors we can make the audience think, make them feel, make them happy, and make them sad. And it would be years before the French New Wave guys let him in on a little secret: He might also be an artist. He’s distilled down to his role as master entertainer. The story is extremely well-written, perfectly cast (particularly regarding Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright), full of some fantastic set pieces and demonstrates Hitch’s understanding and mastery of suspense as well as any film he ever made. All right, maybe it’s just good moviemaking. It’s fun, entertaining from beginning to end, creepy and darkly humorous, but it never really forces me to question anything above and beyond the story. Shadow of a Doubt is a perfect example of the above for me. ![]() ![]() But whatever it was, at times Hitchcock could entertain in a way that would completely satisfy me, without ever seeming to directly address my more intellectual side. What was it? Was it Hitchcock’s sense of humor? Was it the way he would keep us guessing, depriving us of knowing for sure how the story would turn out? Or was it simply the pure visceral thrills that he seemed to so easily provide? Really, I’m not sure of the exact answer. I’m not sure they always did but for some reason, in Hitchcock’s case, I have no problem with it. He was the “Master of Suspense” and a wonderful entertainer, but it wasn’t clear that his movies aimed for anything higher or more profound than that. For a while, it was hard for critics to think of Hitchcock as an artist.
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